It’s no secret that Shia Labeouf is a little crazy. But his more recent behavior apparently cost him a role in one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters. The actor was set to reunite with hisFurydirectorDavid AyerforSuicide Squad, but according to the actor, Warner Bros. deemed him too crazy to take on the part. Considering howcrazysome of the other cast members, and the director were on set, Shia Labeouf’s latest actions seem tame by comparison.
Warner Bros. claimed that Shia Labeouf was a liability on such a big movie, one that was positioned to help continue the launch of their all-important DCEU. But as production on the movie got underway last year, numerous stories emerged about star Jared Leto’s disturbing behavior on set. The Oscar winner reportedly stayed in charter as The Joker throughout the duration of production, wouldn’t communicate with the crew outside of hisJoker persona, and it was widely reported that Leto sent various co-stars strange and sometimes dangerous gifts which included used condoms, live rats, shell casings and he even sent Will Smith a dead boar. Coupled with David Ayer’s sometime’s erratic behavior, which included making his actors cry under stress, and even engaging them in fist-fights during rehearsals, it’s hard to image that Shia Labeouf would have cause much of a stir.
The actor isn’t known for causing too much trouble while he’s actually working, with most of his headline making news taking place far removed from Hollywood. And he has a reputation for being able to work well with sometimes difficult directors such as David Ayer and Michael Bay, who directed him in threeTransformersmovies. But Labeouf has become known for his wild performance art stunts lately, and apparently Warner Bros. didn’t think that was good for business.
During the shooting ofDavid Ayer’s WWII tank dramaFury, Shia LaBeouf did reportedly go to some extreme measures to insure the reality of his character and the film, which was all overseen by Ayer. He reportedly refused to wash, pulled out one of his own teeth, and cut himself to insure an on-screen injury looked authentic. But none of this was reported during the filming of that movie, and falls in line with what Ayer required of his actors on the set ofSuicide Squad. Talking withVariety, the actor admits that past behavior cost him hisSuicide Squadrole.
David Ayer reportedly wanted Shia to playRick Flag’s right-hand man GQ, a role that eventually went to Scott Eastwood. Tom Hardy, who Shia co-starred with in the 2012 dramaLawlesswas originally supposed to play Rick Flag. But everything changed once Will Smith was cast as Deadshot. Says Labeouf.
“The character was different initially…Then Will [Smith] came in, and the script changed a bit. That character and Tom [Hardy’s] character [later played by Joel Kinnaman] got written down to build Will up. I don’t think Warner Bros. wanted me. I went in to meet, and they were like, ‘Nah, you’re crazy. You’re a good actor, but not this one.’ It was a big investment for them.”
There could have been other forces at work here that keptShia LaBeouffrom winning the role of GQ. Because Suicide Squad was just ripe with strange and crazy behavior from the getgo. Along with what we already stated above about the production, it was widely reported by the actress herself that Cara Delevingne wandered naked through a spooky moonlit forest to get into the mindset of The Enchantress. And Jai Courtney is said to have taken magic mushrooms to get his mind right for Captain Boomerang. One-upping the cuts Shia LaBeouf gave himself on the set of Fury, Courtney was known for putting lit cigarettes out on his arms. And, it must be noted, Warner Bros. seemed to encourage the wide spread news of this wild behavior as a means to market the movie.
In the finishedSuicide Squadcut that made it into theaters, Scott Eastwood’s GQ only had a very small role. Perhaps it was not the best fit for Shia LaBeouf who could, seemingly, return to play any number of characters in the DC Comics universe as the DCEU continues to grow on the big screen.
